No-one knows the challenges of operating a business in Russia better than Bob Dudley - the CEO of BP who is travelling there alongside David Cameron.

Mr Dudley was kicked out of the country in 2008 after claiming he had been harassed by the Russian government.

BP say their Moscow offices were raided illegally only last week.

In his speech at Moscow University, David Cameron said British companies "need to have faith that the State, the judiciary and the police will protect their hard work and not put the obstacles of bureaucracy, regulation and corruption in their way".

Corruption is endemic in Russian business - so says Bill Browder, of London-based Hermitage Capital.

He says his lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, died an agonising death in a Moscow jail at the hands of the people who arrested him after he uncovered a state-committed fraud worth millions of pounds.

Last December, former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky was convicted for a second time of money-laundering.

Amnesty International said the trial proceeded with numerous violations of fair trial standards and appears to have been politically motivated.

Swedish furniture giant Ikea halted its investment in Russia - officially they said it was because of "the unpredictability of the administrative processes".

It was widely perceived they were simply fed up with the corruption that is a part of life for both foreign and domestic firms.

Bribes are budgeted for as an inevitable aspect of starting up a company. It is regarded as the easiest way of moving forward.

Allegations of bribery and backhanders are rife, stifling any real entrepreneurial spirit.

Shadowy connections between bureaucrats, gangsters and even prosecutors do little to welcome foreign investment.

Six hundred British companies operate in Russia where economic growth is at 4%.

Outside that favourable condition the climate remains chilly and at times more than inhospitable.

Outwardly liberal, President Dmitry Medvedev has vowed to tackle corruption but his plans remain vague.

In 2009 when he announced a major reform to tackle the problem, he said it would take time.

Since then he admitted that he knew of "no significant successes in this direction".

If the country's leader can't tackle the problem of corruption, who can?

Perhaps it lies with the true boss of Russia, Vladimir Putin - but many argue that therein lies the problem.